Character Presentation - A Story Is Only Good If It's Told

Better hide this...

I know a great story that strikes a deep emotional chord and really changes people's perspective on life.

...

Oh, you'd like to know what it is?  Well, it's really great and I'm sure you would enjoy it.

Ok, so there is no story, but you wouldn't have been disappointed if I never mentioned one, would you?  This is why no-one claims Gran Turismo is a bad game because of a lack a narrative.  It may not be your taste, but if its a good driving simulator it succeeded because that's what it was promised to be.  So, as noted before, if something states it has a story to tell, people will begin to judge the quality of the story.  It was promised after all, and that's what they are investing their time for.

What if a game has a good story, but you never hear it?  Well, if its because you skip every cutscene/dialogue and ignore it, then whatever.  That's on you.  However, if an important character's personality is hidden from the player, they're going to have a hard time caring about said character.

The recent Tomb Raider reboot perfectly demonstrates my point.  A heavier emphasis on character development was promised for the game.  While it may have only been focusing on Lara, the main character, and it can be argued that it did a good job of presenting her character, the game also introduces several side characters.  They would seem to be important as well, given their implied significance to the plot and how they interact with the character of Lara.  Yet, they are given very little dialogue and I did not know them well enough to care about their survival by the end of the game.

I thought it was just poor writing or rushed development (which may have still been a problem) until I discovered some of the hidden journal entries.  These collectibles were written from the side characters' perspectives and gave insight into their background and their thoughts on the current situation.  Surprisingly, some of these characters actually sounded interesting from what I learned from the journals.  But here's the problem, very little of this comes up in the essential parts of the story.  Worse yet, these journals are hidden...  As in, hard to find.  As in, if you're bad scavenger hunts you may never see it.

It is hopefully obvious why this is a problem.  While it's very possible to never find some of the side quests in Skyrim or any BioWare game (especially Baldur's Gate), these are self contained stories that don't contain information vital to the enjoyment of the main plot.  Even the ones that do involve main characters are usually made obvious, so it's up to the player to decide whether or not they actually care.

Then there are games like The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition.  At one point the main character, Geralt, speaks to a guard.  And in one brief segment of dialogue, this nameless guard becomes more interesting than most (if not all) of Tomb Raider's side characters, and that's just in the segment created to serve as a tutorial.

It's fine to have hidden extras that give information about characters in the game.  But that's just it, it must be extra.